Sunshine, A Crowd-Sourced Weather App, Goes Live

When it comes to the weather, there is no lack of applications to choose from to get your information. But there is very little diversity when it comes to those apps.

A new startup, called Sunshine, is looking to change all that. Using information delivered from the barometer sensor in the phone, as well as user-generated reports of local weather, the app is trying to change the way we consume information about the day’s weather.

“Right now, all these apps are showing you a bunch of numbers, without actually taking into account how the weather feels to you, based on how you experience different types of weather,” said cofounder and CEO Katerina Stroponiati.

This might sound simple, but in reality most of the hundreds of weather apps available for your phone are simply repackaging the same government-issued reports, according to Stroponiati. Those reports, in turn, come from satellites (which only see the bigger picture) or weather stations, which Stropionati describes as “few and far between.”

“The more users we have, with phones offering up sensor data and users submitting weather reports, the more accurate we will get,” said Stroponiati. “Like an almanac.”

The idea is that weather feels different to everyone, so the more hyperlocal the reports can get, the better prepared users will be to plan for their day.

When signing up, users are asked to provide the address of their home and their office, or any other oft-frequented place. They’re also asked to enter a “comfort zone,” which is a generally preferred temperature range. From there, Sunshine offers a personalized push notification each morning helping that user decide what to wear for the day, etc.

Users can also check on predicted weather for the next 24 hours at any time, as well as input their own weather report based on more generalized options (like sunny, cloudy, windy, etc.) instead of exact temperatures.

As of right now, Sunshine hasn’t disclosed how it plans to make money, but the startup has received $2 million in funding from investors like Maven Ventures, Greak Oats Ventures, BBG Ventures, Morado Ventures, and the Winkelvoss.